Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Asean Is Convincing Cambodia For Bilateral Talks With Thailand

via CAAI

BANGKOK, March 7 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he believes that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is trying to convince Cambodia to settle border issues with Thailand through bilateral negotiations, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Regarding a plan to organise a meeting of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) in Indonesia later this month and of Cambodia's intention not to cooperate with the session, the Thai premier noted that he is waiting for a response from Cambodia and he believes Indonesia, as the current chair of Asean, is trying to convince Phnom Penh to attend the meeting.

Abhisit said that Cambodia should not raise the unsettled border issues beyond bilateral frameworks because both countries already have clear existing mechanisms to handle their bilateral problems.

The Thai leader acknowledged that all parties would like to see bilateral negotiations between Bangkok and Phnom Penh as soon as possible, as they do not want the unsettled issues to persist, and that Thailand is now ready for the bilateral talks.

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